Portable electronics equipment, such as radios, cellular and cordless telephones, pagers and the like, are becoming increasingly popular. In many instances it is desirable to provide apparatus on the equipment to supply the operator with visual messages that include graphics and printed information as well as a means to access and manipulate such messages. The problem is that prior art apparatus providing these functions require relatively high electrical power and require a great amount of area to be sufficiently large to produce useful and visually perceivable information.
In the prior art, for example, it is common to provide visual apparatus utilizing liquid crystals, directly viewed light emitting diodes, etc. These produce very large and cumbersome displays that greatly increase the size of the receiver and require relatively large amounts of power.
Apparatus incorporating a miniature virtual image, which solves most of the problems mentioned above, is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,198, entitled "WAVEGUIDE VIRTUAL IMAGE DISPLAY", issued Jun. 29, 1993. Typically, the products in which the miniature virtual image display is incorporated are small handheld devices.
Typically, in portable electronics equipment, such as radios, cellular and cordless telephones, pagers and the like, there exists a small display which illustrates the number being dialed or the function being programmed. Greater capabilities in terms of displayed information can be achieved by adding an additional display to the portable electronics equipment. Of concern is the considerable volume required for the display module and associated electronics. Accordingly, the positioning of the additional display relative to the portable electronics equipment is of concern due to space constraints of the typical portable electronics equipment.
Therefore, there exists a need to provide for an additional display for use in association with portable electronics equipment. Accordingly, a virtual image display that is removably mounted to the power source would be beneficial.
Accordingly, it is a purpose of the present invention to provide for an additional display to an existing portable electronic device.
It is also a purpose of the present invention to provide for a portable electronic device with a removable or detachable display.
It is a further purpose of the present invention to provide for a new and improved portable electronic device with a removable display that incorporates a removable virtual image display with the power source.
It is a further purpose of the present invention to provide for a new and a portable electronic device with a removable display for use in small handheld devices, which enables a virtual image display and thus data contained within the product to be accessed and thus viewable by the user.
It is a further purpose of the present invention to provide for a portable electronic device with a removable display for use in portable electronics equipment that allows for the detachment of the display from the power source, thus remote viewing of the display from the portable electronic device utilizing a wireless connection with the portable electronic device.